Carfree infrastructure

[chasm54]

Yes. If I get the job I'm currently aiming for, it would be a 20mile commute in a day. It's not impossible, but it's not something I want to keep up for very long, simply because it takes so much ~time~.

I really don't get this. Assuming that 20 miles in a day means a 10-mile commute each way, that means it would take you less than forty minutes to get to work by bike. Not a long time, by most commuters standards.

[Mobile 155]

Maybe they are slow or riding a cruiser?

[zoltani]

Speaking for myself, I'd move somewhere that offered easy access (by bike and public transport, preferably rail) to a City/town centre, but allowed me to get out into the countryside pretty quickly on the bike.

Do you have any examples of this type of situation?

Yeah, that's what I'd like too, plus being able to get a meaningful job. But I'm US and so far I have no idea how to find such place.

Seattle fits the bills pretty well.

Light rail, train, ferry, bus can get you to the countryside quick. Mt Ranier is only 70 miles away, you can take a bus even closer. You can be in the foothills of the cascades in 40 miles or less. The ferry system allows you to go to MANY points beyond the city quickly. Amtrak can get you to points even farther.

Yeah, I love it here...

[gerv]

But I am back to what it was like when I first got married. I have a car at home for my wife and vacations. I ride one of my bikes almost everywhere else, Drug store, post office, dr. office and if I go to church by myself there as well. But I live in a small rural area that has mutated into a suburb and finally a small city,100,00 or less, perfect size in my opinion. I have downsized my home to be just big enough for my wife and I. I can get fruits and vegetables grown locally. I can get milk, eggs, and chicken grown locally. And I can ride to the mall, wally world, Food warehouse or coffee shop if I want. So I think with more cycling infrastructure things will come to us or at least in cases like mine that is how it works. And once again 20 miles doesn't seem all that far for an average round trip.

I'm in the same empty-nest scenario. Except that for a long while my wife has the car in another country (long story.....). But I have discovered in my 50s that just about everything I need to do can be done by bicycle or public transit. The occasional taxi is necessary (2 in the last 10 months.)

What really helps me is that we decided, even when we had 2 cars, that it would be nice to be centrally located, not too far from a grocery store, restaurants, etc. Although it seemed a fairly minor point at the time, it has proved pretty useful lately.

[bamboopiper]

Maybe they are slow or riding a cruiser?

Or fat. Or assuming it's up several hills, some of them 30% grade.